The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has awarded the A400M full type certification, making the aircraft the world’s first large military transport to be certified to civil standards.
The certification comes ahead of the first delivery of the A400M to the French air force, after exhaustive flight testing involving the five-string fleet completing 4,800 hours during more than 1,600 flights.
Airbus Military head of the A400M program, Cedric Gautier, said: “Certifying the A400M to civil as well as military standards has been a huge challenge for us, our suppliers and EASA itself. But by providing a firm framework for certification from day one, to globally accepted standards, both we and the operators will see important benefits as the aircraft matures in service and new customers join the program.”
Airbus said military initial operating clearance is ongoing.
